Polish

[Weldaar]

take your guitar out in the cold, and bring it back in without acclimitizing in the case and you'll see checking, no matter how much plasticizer is in the finish.

Nah, that's ok.

 

[LoKi]

Nah, that's ok.

Haha I'm with u. If its going to happen, I let it happen naturally... but lots of guys on here think differently. Different strokes, different folks I guess. At least cold checking is better than paying Mr. Murphy a couple grand to use a belt buckle and a razor blade.

 

[Weldaar]

Natural is the only way a guitar should age. Playing and age. Just my opinion

 

[Lazarus]

Use the polish first, because it has small abrasives in it that will clean the body. You don't need to use very much. I know its tempting to squirt a whole lot on the body and rub it around, but thats the worst thing you can do.

Get a good lint free cloth, squirt about a dime sized amount onto the body and do even circular motions to clean it.

When it comes time to wax, make sure there is no lint or anything on the surface of the guitar. Again a dime sized amount per side of the body, circular motion to apply the wax, letting it dry on the guitar for 3-4 minutes *you'll see a 'haze' appear on the body as the wax dries*.

Then with another clean, lint free cloth, gently remove the wax (turning the cloth often so you don't get build up in one spot which could cause scratches) with the same circular motions. Gently mind you, you don't want to remove the wax completely, just the top layer that is all hazy.

After that, get yourself a really nice buffing cloth, and buff that thing until she SHINES. If you feel so inclined, and you've got all your hardware removed, you can use a random orbital buffer to really get em shiny. (as long as you know what you're doing.. I've seen beginners ruin cars, guitars, hardwood, tables ect.. from bad use of a buffer. EVEN motion is key, and no pressure on the object.)

Best of luck my friend!

Thank you very much Loki. I will be buying some polish and wax next week and I'll give it a try and we'll see how it goes.

Thanks

 

[HEY!YOU!]

Spit and a soft cloth.

 

[Volusia]

For the last 100 years Gibson has used Nitro. I don't think a Les Paul has ever left the factory in polyurethane. I could be wrong, but I'm 99% sure.

Here's an article about maintaining your finish from the Gibson website...

Lacquer Care and Maintenance

Nice link, Thanks.

 

[LoKi]

After a bit more diggin', the only evidence I can find of Gibson using a poly finish is on its Les Paul basses and some of the custom finishes on Firebirds in the 60's. Dunno the exact truth of it, but I really want to know... so I'll keep digging.

 

[Weldaar]

Got an email from a Gibson customer service rep today. He said that Gibson uses Nitro, always did, and the Epi line uses Poly.

 

[lp59aholicDon]

Natural is the only way a guitar should age. Playing and age. Just my opinion

+1 Jeff, Relic'ing might be the fad or in thing, I wonder 20 years down the road if many will regret having it done , thinkin of the stuff that was done by razor too, when that stuff practically falls off the guitar from age and weather alone I dont think it may look too pretty

 

[LoKi]

Personally I'm just amazed at how much it costs. If anybody wants relicing done, I'll do it for half the cost, and guarantee my work, plus give you a COA stating 'beat up, on purpose by LoKi' with the proper date and photos of the entire process.

No joke, I could use the cash.

 

[lp59aholicDon]

Personally I'm just amazed at how much it costs. If anybody wants relicing done, I'll do it for half the cost, and guarantee my work, plus give you a COA stating 'beat up, on purpose by LoKi' with the proper date and photos of the entire process.

No joke, I could use the cash.

man Loki, I could use cash too, but I dunno if my conscience would let me beat up on some nice Les Pauls, Hmm some foriegn made guitars, that I could handle on this one Paperwork would definitly be the easy part

 

[classic]

Got an email from a Gibson customer service rep today. He said that Gibson uses Nitro, always did, and the Epi line uses Poly.

Jeff,

Thanks alot for your research ...

... that was very, very useful !!!

 

[eutterr]

Spit and a soft cloth.(From Hey!you!)



LOL! Yeah, if our Guitar is all wrapped up with Leather! Like the military Corcoran leather boots,spit and soft cloth will do the trick to shine it up.Hey,might work on wood,who knows.

 

[Torren61]

What polish did you end up using?

 

[Leee]

Surely they have it figured out after 18 years, right?

 

[Torren61]

Surely they have it figured out after 18 years, right?

Maybe, but I really wanna know how everything turned out,

 

[efstop]

And like Lazarus, this thread has risen from the dead.
The OP's handle shows he was prescient
@Torren61 the OP hasn't been seen in over 17 years...

 

[Torren61]

And like Lazarus, this thread has risen from the dead.
The OP's handle shows he was prescient
@Torren61 the OP hasn't been seen in over 17 years...

That shouldn't be a disqualification. What if he comes back and tells us the rest of the story? You're sure gonna look silly.

 

[efstop]

That shouldn't be a disqualification. What if he comes back and tells us the rest of the story? You're sure gonna look silly.

Wouldn't be the first time